On February 8 Vice President Joe Biden unveiled an Obama administration plan to spend $53 billion over the next six years to develop a high-speed passenger rail system that would link the nation’s larger cities. The proposed spending would be added to the $10.5 billion the administration has already spent on high-speed rail since Obama took office, including $8 billion poured into his 2009 “economic stimulus package.”

The federal policy of trying to reduce energy dependence through the use of ethanol runs counter to free-market economics. Increasing the use of ethanol will not reduce dependence upon foreign energy sources, according to a research paper published by the National Academy of Science, which concluded this about ethanol: "Neither can [it] replace much petroleum without impacting food supplies."

Two summers ago, Americans were reeling over the exorbitant gas prices that averaged $4.50 per gallon. As gas prices are once again beginning to inch their way back to those numbers, former president of Shell oil John Hofmeister predicts that America will witness a continued rise to well over $5 per gallon in two years.

BrightSource Energy, headquartered in Oakland, California, is developing the $2 billion Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (ISEGS) in the Mojave Desert — the first large-scale solar thermal project built in the Golden State in nearly two decades. Once constructed, it will be the largest in the world, possibly doubling the amount of U.S.-produced commercial solar thermal electricity.